Thoughts on Public History and Confederate Monuments by Kesia Kvill and Sandy Barron “The shaping of a past worthy of public commemoration in the present is contested and involves a struggle for supremacy between advocates of various political ideas and sentiments.” ~John Bodnar, Remaking America: Public Memory, Commemoration and Patriotism in the Twentieth Century. […]

War, Discrimination and Political Apologies by Kandace Bogaert Recently, the Canadian news media has called attention to Justin Trudeau’s plan to apologize to former members of the Canadian Armed Forces who were discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity between the 1950’s and 1990’s. However, Trudeau’s starting date of 1950 […]

Dyer’s Battalion: the Untold Story of the Russian Revolution (Part I) by Trevor Ford The mutineers came at night, silent and with determination. They had fixed their bayonets and had even brought forward a light machine gun. In silence they gathered near the officers’ quarters where their British officers were fast asleep. Suddenly a shout […]

Jeffrey Storey: A Personal Military History, Pt. 5 This is the fifth and final post in a miniseries that explores the personal military history of Jeffrey Storey, decedent of the conflict-laden regions of Auronzo di Cadore on the Austrian border in the Italian Alps. Please click here to read previous entries. The next chapter in the military history […]

Commemorating Vimy on the Ridge by Katrina Pasierbek During the first week of April, every time I turned a corner in northern France I was met with the familiar site of the Canadian flag. In the nearby towns of Givenchy, Neuville-Saint-Vaast, and Vimy, the red maple leaf was prominently displayed along roads, in local […]

The Glory and the Pity: The Great War Memorial Figures of George Hill and Emanuel Hahn Part II by Alan McLeod This is the second in a two-part article on the memorials of George Hill and Emanuel Hahn. We are pleased to present this series alongside our latest issue of the Journal of Canadian Military History (CMH) […]

The Glory and the Pity: The Great War Memorial Figures of George Hill and Emanuel Hahn Part I: The War Memorials of Charlottetown, Summerside and Saint-Lambert by Alan McLeod This is the first in a two-part article on the memorials of George Hill and Emanuel Hahn. We are pleased to present this series alongside our […]

“He went into the Army an athlete and came out a cripple:” Pension Eligibility, Theatre of Service and the Case of Private Andrew McGahey by Eric Story During question period in June 1919, Member of Parliament (MP) Newton Wesley Rowell, the chairman of the special house committee on veterans’ pension, was asked about returning […]

What is a Guinea Pig? Plastic Surgery and the Second World War by Eliza Richardson What is a Guinea Pig? “A rodent mammal, originating in South America, but now widely distributed. The term ‘Guinea Pig’ is applied dialectically to the Wood-Louse and in Cornwall to the small white Cowrie. A short-legged rodent, having no […]

The McCallum Family and The Myth of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ by Eric Story The 1920s is commonly referred to as the “Roaring Twenties” in Canada. As the narrative goes, the cultural scene exploded with jazz music and films, while industry and manufacturing grew, and Central Canada underwent an urban transformation. Preceding these boom years, Canadian […]